The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-04-13
PEARL FISHING.
NATURES JEWEL CASKETS IN
CAVERNS OF THE SEA.
Sick Oysters Produce the Best Pearls
Where tho Fisheries are
Located and How They
are Operated.


A recently issued bulletin of the United
States Fish Commission contains trans
lation of an interesting report by En-
gineer NJ. Weber, of Norway, on pearls
and pearl fisheries. "Many mussels,"
says this report, "covcr the inside of
their shell with layer consisting of ami
NAL membranes and carbonated lime.
Thereby peculiar luster is produced on
the inside of the shell, which is called
mother-of-pearl. A smaller portion of
this secretion often forms cXcrcsccnces
shaped like drops or kidneys, which
either are embedded more or less firmly
in the inside of the shell, or lie loose in
the soft parts of the animal, especially in
its so-called beard. These are what are
generally known as pearls. The forma-
tion of mother-of-pearl is doubtless
natural process taking place in certain
mussels. The formation of pearls, on the
other hand, is ascribed to accidents, and
probably is caused by sickness of the
mussel, or by some wound inflicted on it.
. This view has been reached by noticing
the circumstance thai, when the shells
are large and the inside smooth, clean
and without any holes, so that the mol
lusks can fully develop, pearls are but
rarely found; while the formation of
pearls is very frequent when the shells
are irregular. Sometimes hundreds of
pearls are found in the last mentioned
shells; but frequently scarcely one of
them possesses any commercial value.
Real pearls are found only in bivalves;
but useful product is found in some
univalves." Fourteen varieties are
enumerated, the products of which are
known to commerce.
The sea pearl fisheries are principally
confined to the Persian gulf, coasts of
Ceylon, the eastern archipelago, Aus
tralia, the lagoons of many islands in the
Pacific and to Central America. Fresh
water pearls have, as a rule, but little
luster, and are consequently of no great
value. During the summer months the
Arabs carry on sort of pearl fishery on
the coast of the Red Sea. They catch
the mollusks and lay them in the SUN so
that they may open quickly. The pearl
fisheries in the Persian gulf, especially
on the coasts of the island of Bahrein, are
also in the hands of the Arabs. The Cey-
Ion pearl fisheries are carried on on the
west coast of Ceylon, in the gulf of
Manaar, south of the island of the same
name and also on the west coast of India,
near Tuticorin. Experience has shown
that few pearls, and these of little value,
come from mussels which are not older
than five years. During the fifth and
sixth year the value doubles, and in
the seventh year it becomes fourfold.
The pearls are not fully matured if they
are taken out too soon; and, on the other
hand, the animal dies if the pearls re-
main too long in the shells. For these
reasons, at the Ceylon fisheries, pearl fish
ing is prohibited at certain periods. In
sorting the pearls they are first passed
through row of baskets, ten or twelve in
number. The eighth basket in the row
has twenty holes, and the pearls which
do not pass through these arc said to have
the twentieth measure" The other
baskets in order have 20, so, 80, 100, 200,
400, 600, 1000 holes, ETC., and each basket
has its special name. After the pearls
have been sorted in this measure they are
weighed and their value is noted. China
has pearl fisheries near Pakhoi. The Phil
lippinc Islands produce large quantities
of mother pearl. The entire region
from the island of Tawi-Tawi and Lulu to
Baselan is one continuous bed of pearl
oysters. Here the Malays and Chinese
fish in common. The Lulu fisheries, near
Tawi-Tawi, are, according to the state
ment of an Englishman, Mr.. Moore, the
largest and most productive of all the
pearl fisheries in the East Asiastic seas.
The most important pearl fisheries in
Queensland arc in the hands of Sydney
capitalists. The fisheries are carried on
by Malays, who dive to a depth of six
fathoms. The pearl fisheries on the north
west coast of Australia employ large
number of Malays and natives as divers.
Recently the English papers have reported
the discovery of pearls and mother-of
pearl near New Zealand.
Diving for pearls is one of the princl-
pal employments for the natives of the
Pacific Ocean. Here, likewise, mother-of-
pearl is the principal object of the fisher
les. The oysters live in large colonies,
close together, and are firmly attached to
each other; they are attached to the bot
tom by ligamcnt or band, starting from
their body and running through the shell.
In the live animal this band is of dark
green, and sometimes gold-bronze color,
and the fisherman can tell from the color
whether the shells contain pearls or not
The shells reach their full size when they
are seven years old. When the animal
has reached maturity, it tears itself loose
from the stones, opens its shell and dies.
The shells arc then covered with corals
and parasites. They become worthless
and the pearls are lost. Occasionally
pearls are found loose in the shells. These
are always of a very fine quality, perfectly
round and often very large. But there
is hardly one in thousand oysters which
contain such pearls. The natives often
lose them, owing to the careless way in
which they open the shells. Fine and
calm weather is the most favorable for
pearl fishing. The divers wear no special
suit, but simply rub their body with oil,
so the sun may not blister their skin.
They remain under the water ore to two
minutes, and bring up oysters from a
depth of twenty fathoms. They rarely
go to such depth, but the finest oysters
are found there. Thus in many fishing
grounds, which were supposed to be ex-
hausted, a great many pearl-oysters are
found in deep water.
Besides the pearl oyster, there is often
found in the laSoons of the Pacific Ocean
kind of Venus shell, which often con-